inFAMOUS 3
by Residential DeadMan
Summary: New Marais has been destroyed. A new Beast, more powerful than the first, has launched a war against humanity. The plague that began in Empire City is spreading faster than it can be contained. And the only person who can stop all of it is Cole MacGrath. Now, in Washington D.C., he'll have to raise an army of Conduits to stand against the Beast, and save he world... if he can.
1. prOLOGUE

prOLOGUE

There's no such thing as a small change.

A few months ago, I was just like you: ordinary, unremarkable, just a regular guy trying to live life the best that I could. But in the blink of an eye, all of that changed.

An explosion ripped through six blocks of Empire City. Thousands of people lost their lives. I was almost one of them. Almost. For four days, I laid in a hospital bed, clinging to life with my bare fingertips. When I finally woke up, I was... different.

Empire City was placed under quarantine in order to contain a plague that struck shortly after the Blast. It didn't work. All it did was cage the animals that the US government didn't want to mess with. It was all up to me to sort things out. Find out how and why I got these powers.

Eventually, I got my answers to both.

I met a plethora of people, some good, some bad. Only one could be described as a bit of both: Kessler. I hated the man as soon as I laid eyes on him. Then he laid his hands on me, showing me visions of what I thought were the future, but turned out to be his past. MY past.

Kessler was me, from an alternate timeline. A time when a Beast ravaged the earth, killing everyone in its path. Kessler failed to stop it, failed to act, and lost everything that mattered to him. So he came back. Back to my time, to find me and turn me into the thing he couldn't be: the one to bring down the Beast.

To accomplish this, he committed monstrosities. He set up the Blast. He arranged the quarantine, the gang wars. He turned my best friend against me. And he killed the woman I loved.

And yet, even after all that, it wasn't enough. When the Beast did arrive, I met it head-on. I fought it with every ounce of strength I had. But it shrugged off my attacks like they were pinpricks. It destroyed Empire City while I was forced to flee to New Marais.

While in the city, I did everything I could to prepare for my second round with the Beast. I made new friends, I fought new enemies, and I did everything I could to advance my powers. When the Beast finally arrived in New Marais, I doubled my efforts, hoping to stop it before its rampage got any worse.

But things are never as easy as they seem. The Beast is actually a friend of mine from Empire City. He's doing something about the plague, curing Conduits with his powers, but killing any nearby who wasn't a Conduit. He wants me to help him. To usher in a new era of civilization, and save as many as possible to see it.

Either way, whatever I decide, I will be ready.


	2. chAPTER 1

chAPTER 1

I placed the Ray Field Inhibitor on the coffee table and placed my hands on my hips. Now for the ugly part.

Before I got a chance to say anything, there was the familiar whooshing sound and Nix appeared on the roof with us, looking more distraught than I had ever seen her. "It was bad," she sobbed. "It was so bad, Cole."

I nodded sympathetically. When the Beast arrived, it tore through the swamp, killing many of the creatures she'd bonded with, the same way Bertrand had. I put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad you made it," I said reassuringly. She nodded slightly in response. I then turned to the rest of the group and addressed everyone. "Listen, uh," I began, but paused. How could I even try to put this? "Things aren't as cut-and-dry as we thought." Zeke and Kuo looked at me with a confused expression. I sighed and continued. "It turns out the Beast is someone I knew. A Conduit named John White."

Kuo was floored. "John is alive?" she said disbelievingly.

"Yeah," I replied. Kuo's expression quickly turned from confusion to a mixture of fear and sadness. John and Kuo hadn't known each other that long before the Blast, but they were assigned to the same case, and had become friends during their investigation into the First Sons. "But listen, what he's doing isn't mass murder. He's using his powers like a Ray Sphere, activating potential Conduits, curing them of the plague."

Zeke frowned, unsure of where I was going with this. Truth be told, neither did I. "But he's killing people who aren't lucky enough to be Conduits."

His interrogative stare made be abandon the rest of the idea of subtlety. "He asked me to help him, Zeke," I said bluntly.

Zeke stood furiously. "Help him?!" he demanded.

Nix was just as angry at the idea as he was. "Your pal just killed all my babies!" she exclaimed, standing.

"I know," I replied, trying to keep Nix calm.

It worked, but only a little. "Then do something about it, Cole," she said through gritted teeth.

Her expression stirred something in me, throwing away second guesses about the RFI. "We are," I said definitively, picking up the RFI and preparing myself for what was about to happen.

Nothing could have prepared me for what did happen. As I laid as much electricity into the RFI as I could, pain began crushing me from the inside out. Through the ringing in my ears, I could hear Nix and Kuo screaming, see them cradling their heads. I tried to stop, tried to make myself think, but I couldn't. My hands felt like they were glued to the device, and wouldn't listen to my plea for them to let go.

Zeke, reacting quickly, grabbed the Amp from my backpack and swung it as hard as he could at the RFI, knocking it out of my hands. I collapsed to the ground, still shaking from the experience.

One by one, Kuo, Nix, and I stood slowly to our feet. "Oh my god," Kuo said breathlessly. "I was dying. I could feel it,"

I could only agree. Whatever the RFI was supposed to do, it didn't work. Something had gone wrong. "It didn't even fire off," I breathed, disbelief flooding me. "It wasn't even fully charged."

Nix didn't seem to care about her close brush with death as she rounded on Zeke. "What the hell did you do, Zeke?" she demanded.

"What was I supposed to do?" Zeke asked defensively. He stepped over to me, handing me the Amp, before stepping over to the RFI.

"Is it broken?" I asked.

"I don't know," Zeke admitted as he picked it up. "Let me take a look."

As he sat down, Kuo pointed at the RFI. "Wolfe," she said, her voice still shaky, "he knew this was going to happen."

The news hit me like a sack of bricks. Of course. He would've planned on this. Stopping the plague and taking away powers, the Conduit gene, and whoever carried it, would either be a casualty... or a target. But if Wolfe knew... she had to know, too. The relationship those two had, Wolfe had to have told her. "He was setting me up to die," I spat out, anger rising quickly in me.

Kuo raised her hands defensively. "Well, I didn't know about this," she stammered.

My anger subsided, seeing Kuo looking innocent. But the fact still remained that the RFI was a death trap. "If I use that thing, it's going to kill us. Kill all Conduits, not just the Beast."

Zeke looked up from his work. "I'll die if you don't. So will millions of others."

I sighed. "Look, Zeke, we don't know that the RFI will cure the plague. John's method works. I've seen it." Nix walked away slightly, and Zeke just stood there, dumbfounded at my words. Only Kuo seemed remotely supportive. "He might be the only way anyone lives through this."

Nix suddenly rounded on me. "I don't care what happens to me!" she shouted. "All I care about is that the Beast dies." She pointed at me with one of her claws. "You need to make a decision right now. Are you gonna kill the Beast? Be a man of your word."

"Look, John's plan is not pretty," Kuo interjected. "It's not. But it's right. Conduits are immune to the plague. He needs to make as many as he can before more of the sick die. Think about that."

I looked between the three of them and sighed, turning away. "Never thought Kuo would lose her nerve and get selfish," I muttered. The decision that was placed into my hands... there was no way to make it simply. There was a lot riding on this. The fates of the entire human race, and the Conduits, rested in my hands. Did I use the RFI to kill myself and all other Conduits, and allow humanity to continue to live? Or did I turn against them, but preserve the Conduits and guarantee the plague's cure?

After a few moments, my mind was made up. I turned to the others, ready to deliver my verdict.

Only I never got the chance. An explosion sounded to our right, somewhere in Ascension Parish. I looked over to where the sound came from and numerous flashes of both red and blue, followed by more explosions.

Acting quickly, I ran to the edge of the roof, but paused and turned to Zeke. "Toss me the RFI!" I called.

Zeke did, and I put it in my pack, not wanting to rule it out just yet. Kuo glared at me, obviously not wanting to keep the thing around. "Cole-," she began.

"Later," I cut her off. We didn't have time to debate this, not with whatever was out there. "I need you flying overhead, providing surveillance. We need to know exactly what we're dealing with."

After a beat, Kuo nodded and took off. I turned to Nix. "Nix, you're gonna need to stay with Zeke." She opened her mouth to protest, but I held up my hand. "In his condition, he can't do much to defend himself. I need your help with that." Nix frowned, but shrugged her approval.

"What about me?" Zeke demanded. "I'm not *completely* useless, you know."

"I know. I need you to find us some transport. Things might get pear-shaped pretty fast, so we may need a quick exit."

"I'm on it," he replied. He turned to Nix. "Do, uh... do ya think you could give me a lift?" he asked.

Nix rolled her eyes but grabbed Zeke and teleported away. I turned back to the disturbance, took a breath, and jumped off the roof. *Here we go,* I thought.

As I landed, I looked up, only to see a wall right there. Looking left, I sprinted down the alley and onto the street. The effects of the explosion were everywhere. Scorch marks lined the streets and buildings, balconies were shattered an fell to the ground, and panicked civilians ran from the epicenter, hiding in the buildings while the explosions continued.

Reaching the place where the first explosion occurred, I placed my hand to my ear, my earpiece beeping to start the call. "Kuo," I said. "What do you see?"

"A bunch of flashes and a few blown-up cars, but nothing else."

Frowning, I moved forward and continued following the sounds of battle. Going around the clock tower, I saw the flashes Kuo was talking about. After another explosion, a figure came flying toward me. I rolled to my right to dodge it. I looked back to the figure, and was surprised to see it was a human. They were wearing a pair of pants and running shoes, and a white t-shirt, all incredibly torn and dirty.. A backpack was slung across one shoulder. The person looked up at me, and my surprise grew to a height I'd never thought I'd witness again.

I was looking into my own face.


	3. chAPTER 2

chAPTER 2

The other me looked just as surprised to see me as I was to see him. A few tense moments passed, and we stared at each other. Suddenly, his expression hardened, and he moved quickly, throwing a lightning rocket at me with a speed I hadn't ever witnessed before. I barely rolled out of the way before it exploded behind me.

Bringing my Amp from it's sling, I turned back to my doppelgänger as he was upon me, throwing a punch to my midsection. As it landed, white sparks scattered around the point of impact, which began hurting like hell. As I doubled over, the other me swung his foot in a roundhouse kick to the side of my head. Thinking quickly, I ducked down lower, avoiding the blow before swinging upward with the Amp. The attack caught him off guard, and he ended up flying backward and onto the ground.

As he hit the ground, however, he used his momentum to roll and get back on his feet quickly. He then glared at me. "Where the hell did you come from?" he demanded.

I glared back. "I should be asking you that," I replied.

He shook his head. "I don't have time for this," he muttered. Then he started running toward me. A few feet from me, he jumped into the air and clenched his fist, ready to land on me with another attack.

Dropping the Amp for a moment, I focused energy into my hands and let out a punch blast that knocked him back onto the ground. Again, he quickly got up and came at me again. This time I was the one to take to the air, using the ice powers I got when I used the transfer device with Kuo. Once in the air, I let out another blast and followed up with a rocket. He dodged the blast, but got caught in the impact radius of the rocket. I landed on the ground and stormed over to him, stepping on his chest as I sent a surge of energy through him that pinned his wrists and ankles to the ground.

As he struggled, I held out my arm, electricity sparking and threatening to leap out at him. "Why are you here?" I demanded.

He glared at me. "It wasn't by choice," he replied, still trying to break free.

I frowned and lowered my hand. However he got here, he couldn't have been here to hurt anyone. In Empire City, right after Trish died, I was so angry I turned against everyone. I let cops die, I executed gang members, I even took their life energy. The angrier I got, the more evil I seemed to look. My lightning was even blood-red. This other me... he looked much like I did now. No pale skin, no veins sticking out, no red lightning. He must have attacked me because he saw me as some kind of threat. "I'm not an enemy," I said calmly, trying to reason with him.

He seemed to understand, at least a little. "Sorry," he said quietly, though he was still glaring at me. "I couldn't be sure." With a little more energy, he broke free of his bindings and stood up, though less hostile than before.

I shook my head, still very confused. "What the hell is going on?" I asked.

The other me sighed. "It's a long story," he replied solemnly. He looked at me, as though he were sizing me up. "Tell you what: help me deal with this thing and I'll tell you everything you want to know."

I opened my mouth to ask what he was referring to, but my question was answered quickly by a loud thud. We both turned to see the Beast standing at the edge of the square, his eyes on both of us. "John?" I asked, perplexed.

My doppelgänger shook his head. "That's not John," he replied grimly, before teleporting away. I stared at the spot he used to be at for a moment. He was already more powerful than me. Had his powers developed differently than mine? Or was he from the future, like Kessler?

Regardless, he'd most likely need help against the Beast. I picked up the Amp and replaced it in its sling before throwing a bolt of lightning at the top of a building near the Beast. As it caught, I found myself going off the ground and toward it, the tether acting as a pulley system.

Before I made it ten yards, however, a force seemed to grab me and pull me back. Caught between this new force and the lightning tether, I had to let go or be pulled apart by the opposing forces. As I let go, I found myself going higher into the air. I turned around and saw the Beast, another Beast, looking me dead in the eyes. "MacGrath," I heard John say telepathically. "What are you doing?"

"Let go of me, John!" I yelled out. "I don't have time to deal with you right now."

"Deal with me?" John asked menacingly. He suddenly held out his hand, a singularity field pulling me toward it. Using my static thrusters, I tried flying away, but could only manage to stay in place.

As the singularity subsided, I turned around and fired a few rockets, hoping to keep John busy long enough to turn around and help the other me deal with the... other Beast.

It made sense, kind of. Wherever this other version of me came from, there had to be a Beast there, too. But how did he get here? When Kessler came back to my time, he didn't bring the Beast with him. However he got here, he had to be stopped, too. One Beast was bad enough.

John wasn't so easily shaken, however, and I found myself being pulled back from the other Beast and thrown across Ascension Parish. I tried using my static thrusters to glide safely to the ground, but the force of John's throw made the glide unsteady and I landed hard on the ground. It wasn't anything that would badly injure me, but it did hurt like hell. As I stood up, I saw an explosive white flash and the familiar crackle of thunder as an ionic storm came down and hit the John square on the head. He was down, for now, but where was the other one? He'd seemed to had disappeared.

I threw another lightning tether, trying to quickly cover the distance back to the fight. As I came closer, more white and red flashes were visible on the street. Suddenly I heard as scream and the red flash seemed to sustain for a moment. Then, just as suddenly as the scream appeared, it ended.

I ran toward the source of the disturbance, only to find John once again blocking my path. Snarling in frustration, I began throwing more rockets at him before my energy began running low. As John brought a hand toward me, as though to flatten me on the rooftop, I jumped into the alley below and did a quick scan of the environment, trying to find a source of electricity I could draw from. A fuse box sat on the nearby wall, and I held my hand out to drain the energy from it. Before half of the box's energy was in me, John's hand was back, destroying the wall of the building I'd just jumped off of.

I ran onto the street to avoid the debris, but now I was face-to-ankle with John. I looked up just in time to see another singularity being formed, and I ran as fast as I could to avoid it. Then, before John could attack me again, an explosion came from his back, and another large red arm came trough his chest.

As John fell to his knees, I saw the other Beast standing triumphantly behind him. Then it turned its gaze to me. As I turned tail to run, my phone beeped. "Cole!" I heard Zeke yell. "We've got a helicopter. Come on, man! We've gotta go!"

"I'm on my way," I replied, a touch frantically as I tried to outrun the Beast. Before it could give chase, though, John suddenly stood and crashed his elbow into the other Beast's face.

I spotted the helicopter hovering over the bridge leading to Flood Town. I threw a lightning tether to a nearby roof and ran the rest of the way to the bridge. I jumped to the helicopter and grabbed on to the landing bar, hanging there as the helicopter began to take off.

As we moved away from New Marais, I saw one of the Beasts. It seemed to be standing over the other one. I couldn't tell for sure, but I had a bad feeling that it was the Beast from the other me's world. If that version of me was so powerful... I shuddered to think of what this Beast must be like.

"Get inside, MacGrath," a new voice barked.

"Uh," I replied, confused. "That's not a good idea."

"We've already taken steps to compensate for your powers. You won't blow us up."

Despite my concern, I decided to take this guy for his word. Sure as hell beat hanging on to a bar for god knew how long. I climbed into the cabin and saw Nix, Zeke, and Kuo already inside. When I noticed a lack of exploding, I sat down next to Zeke and held on to a sling designed to keep people from falling. I then saw the pilot. "Who are you?" I asked.

"I'm none of your goddamn business," he replied.

I frowned. So that was how it would be, huh? "How about you tell us where we're going?" I pressed. "Or is that none of my goddamn business, either?"

The pilot glared at me for a moment, but then returned his gaze to the front. "Washington D.C.," he finally replied. "Time for you to earn the freedom you've so recklessly enjoyed."

My frown deepened. Earn my freedom? What the hell did that mean? Whatever the case, it probably wasn't the best idea to piss this guy off. Not with a huge body of water below me, anyway.

There was another explosion behind us, in New Marais. I didn't need to turn around to know what happened. The Beast just used his powers. Conduits were activated. Innocent humans were killed.

New Marais was destroyed.

_Author's Note: Thank you to all who've read the introduction. I'm trying to write this like it was an actual inFAMOUS game, with decisions, power upgrading, etc. This probably will have to be considered non-canon, as it won't tie in to Second Son at all._

_Also, to any who are following N7, I apologize, but it is currently on hiatus until I can get the chapter I'm working on finished. I know where I want it to go, but I'm not entirely sure how to get it there._

_Anyways, please don't forget to review. I'd like to know how I'm doing so I can be more prepared with any necessary changes. Thanks, and I hope you enjoy the rest of inFAMOUS 3!_


	4. chAPTER 3

chAPTER 3

The helicopter flew over D.C., turning a few heads and causing a couple to duck into the nearest building. I sat on the edge, looking out the door and waiting to see just where it was we were going. Every once in a while, I would look over my shoulder at the others in the helicopter. Nix looked more upset than when her "pets" were killed by the Beast. Kuo would look at me every so often, her eyes betraying her mistrust for me. Zeke... he looked like shit. The plague was taking its toll, leaving him with minimal energy and making him cough intensely. He wouldn't even look at me.

I couldn't say I blamed him. On the way to D.C., we saw much of John's work. Cities were decimated, bodies were everywhere, and survivors, both human and Conduit, fought over whatever was left. One guess who won. Was I really willing to become a part of that? To be the bringer of such chaos? I thought about my hesitation to use the RFI. To stop the Beast once and for all. Could all of this have been avoided if I'd gone through with it?

The helicopter landed on the roof of what looked like a warehouse. We filed out and followed the pilot, who eventually introduced himself as Tom Heller. After taking a flight of stairs to the ground floor, we were greeted by the scene of a different kind if chaos. People ran from one side of the building to another, possibly with some kind of lead on the current situation with the Beast. Having a lead and being able to act on it were two entirely different things, though. Which was why I was here, I supposed.

"Welcome to DARPA," Heller spoke up as we entered. Zeke and I exchanged glances, remembering full well this was where Moya came from. If DARPA was in charge... everyone in the room suddenly looked hostile.

"Real cozy," I joked, trying to lighten the mood a bit. It didn't work. Not even for me.

Heller approached me, a glare in his eye and his face looking as though he were prepared to kill me if I tried anything. "The Ray Field Inhibitor," he demanded. "Where is it?"

I glared back, not the least bit intimidated by this college boy who thought he was a spy. Then again, this was his show, and he did just save my life. I pulled the RFI out of my pack and handed it to him, not bothering to be gentle. "Hate to break it to you," I said, "but it's broken."

Zeke had asked to take a look at the RFI in the helicopter. His examination, which only took a couple moments, confirmed his worst fear. The RFI was broken beyond any simple repairs. It would have to be taken apart, the broken components fixed, and then put back together. The only person I knew who could do that was Dr. Wolfe.

Heller frowned at the RFI and handed it to a person walking by. "Get this to the lab to have it examined," he ordered.

"Right away, sir," the agent replied before jogging off, RFI in her arms.

Heller turned back to my group. "Any idea how to fix it?" he asked.

"Wolfe invented the RFI," I replied. "He'd be the one to know how to get it fixed, but he died in New Marais."

Heller looked away, frustrated. "What about notes?" he asked after a moment. "He would have left notes on the RFI, right?"

I looked over at Kuo, who looked at the ground. I stepped over to her. "Kuo," I began.

"Please, don't," she replied, tears threatening to slip from her eyes. "You can't ask me to do this."

"We can figure out a way to make it work," I replied, though not convinced myself.

"I don't want it to work!" she suddenly yelled out, now crying freely.

I paused for a moment, taking in the scene. She was so afraid. Who could blame her? Using the RFI meant certain death, for her and everyone like her. We were an endangered species, and we were only getting worse with time. Finally, I sighed. "I'm sorry, Kuo. Okay? I am. But you saw how bad the world's getting. What John's doing. We can't be a part of that." She looked me on the eye, fighting back sobs. "We need those notes," I finished, hoping she'd understand.

She sighed and looked away. "The boxcar," she said finally. "In Flood Town."

Heller nodded, uninterested in Kuo's personal crisis. "We'll head back to New Marais tomorrow," he said.

I turned to look at him. "Why not now?" I asked.

"New Marais was just flattened by the Beast. God only knows what kind of shit was left behind."

I sighed and nodded. "And once it's fixed?"

"Then you use it and finally end this goddamned thing." The words were thrown at me with a malice I wasn't quite expecting. This guy really seemed to hate me. Regardless, he was right. The RFI was the only way this would all end. I just had to suck it up and use it. "Get some sleep, MacGrath," he ordered. "We've got a job for us in the morning."

I may not have liked Heller, but I did like the idea of sleep.

* * *

The next morning, I was up before many others. I drained a bit of energy from the coffee machine to wake me up, then found Heller, who promptly ordered me to take a shower. I was getting a little sick of all of his "ordering", but he did have a point about my hygiene. I turned the shower on hot and stepped in, thankful my skin could now resist this amount of water. All I got were a few pins and needles, along with a few sparks of electricity, nothing more than an annoyance. I still wouldn't be swimming anytime soon, but it felt good to take an actual shower again.

After I got out, I wrapped a towel around my waist, just in time as a female agent stepped in and froze when she saw me. "Sorry," she said quickly, looking away. "I've, uh... I've got some clothes here. Should be your size." She set the clothes on the bench and hurried out.

Smirking slightly, I went over to the bench and put on the clothes. I'd been given a pair of blue jeans (without a Union Jack, but nothing a little tape couldn't fix), a black t-shirt, a yellow hoodie with a zipper down the middle, and a pair of running shoes. I put on the pants and t-shirt and slipped the hoodie on over the shirt, leaving it unzipped. I then grabbed my pack and slung it over my shoulder, making sure I could pull the hood should I need to. Finally, I grabbed the Amp and placed it in its sling and headed out the door.

Heller looked over at me and frowned, as if my presence ruined his entire day. "We're waiting on the helicopter to be ready to take us to New Marais," he explained. "While we're waiting, you should take a tour of D.C., while you've still got the chance."

I frowned, knowing full well what he meant. "I might just do that," I replied curtly.

"Just make sure you don't kill any innocent people," Heller replied.

I flipped him off when he turned around and headed for the exit. Before reaching it, I spotted Nix in the lounge area and walked over to her. "Hey," I said.

"Hey," she replied after a moment.

I struggled to come up with anything to say. Then, I finally asked the question I'd been dreading. "How are you holding up?"

She looked away, visibly shaken. "I've been through worse," she replied. I nodded, understanding. I'd seen the crater that Bertrand had left behind when he activated a Ray Field, heard about her mom being sucked in and killed. Losing New Marais must have been a slap on the wrist compared to that. But that wasn't the worst of what I was dreading.

"I'm sorry," I said. She looked over at me, confused. "For hesitating. Maybe if I hadn't, New Marais would still be standing."

"Yeah," she replied, not convinced. "Maybe."

That ended the conversation. I decided to look around for Zeke before I left, see if I could apologize. An agent pointed me to the medical wing, and I walked over there. I saw Kuo on the way and tried talking to her, but all I got from her was "Just leave me alone, Cole."

I found Zeke lying in a hospital bed with a few IVs in him. "Hey, Zeke," I said.

"Hey," he replied half-heartedly.

I knew what was bothering him. Didn't see any point in dancing around it. "Look, about back in New Marais-."

"Stop," he said suddenly. "Just stop." I was afraid of what was coming next. But I wasn't prepared for he said. "If I can screw up as badly as I did and you forgive me, I'm damn sure not gonna shun you for making a couple mistakes of your own." I breathed a sigh of relief. "You're my brother, Cole. I ain't gonna abandon ya now."

I nodded. "Thanks, Zeke."

A nurse came in and connected a needle to a port in his IV. "I'm giving him a light sedative," she explained. "You'll need to leave to let him rest."

I nodded. "Sure."

Before I left, Zeke called out to me. "Good luck, Brother!"

"Thanks," I replied, heading to the warehouse door.

We were all gonna need it.

_Author's Note: I'm gonna try to have the DARPA warehouse act like a hub location, a bit like the Normandy in Mass Effect. In a game situation, Cole would be able to talk with different people, who would have different things to say depending on the situation. There'll also be some new (and old) people there to have the conversations with._

_The idea for Cole's appearance came from me wondering what he'd look like in a hoodie, and what circumstances he'd be under to keep the hood raised. My thinking is this: Guardian, his appearance is like I described in the chapter above, with a lighter-toned face; Champion, he'll have a white t-shirt and blue hoodie, with the same complexion; Hero, he'll go back to a black t-shirt, but have a white hoodie that's zipped; Thug, his appearance would be like it is in the chapter above, but with a darker-toned face and, of course, red lightning; Outlaw, he'd have the black t-shirt and a red hoodie; Infamous, he'd have a red t-shirt under his now blood-red hoodie, and the hood would be up._

_Also, I have a few other locations Cole will visit, but I can't think of an inFAMOUS-type name for them. If anyone can help, I'd greatly appreciate it. The locations are Detroit, St. Louis, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Las Vegas. Thanks._

_Anyways, hope you all enjoyed that chapter, please don't forget to review._


	5. chAPTER 4

chAPTER 4

Washington D.C. wasn't quite as big as Empire City, though it did beat New Marais by a bit. Some of the buildings were a bit farther apart, which might make running more of a hassle, but it wasn't bad so far.

I tethered up to a building, scaring the hell out of a few folks, and began a morning run, enjoying the cool air in my face. The hoodie protected me from the majority of the cold, which was nice, but the flapping in the wind would take a little getting used to. In Empire, my courier jacket was always closed, and I didn't need a jacket in New Marais, so this was a little new to me. For a moment, I considered stopping and zipping it up, but I decided against it.

To be honest, this felt great. No destination, no problems, no gangs or hicks trying to kill me. Just me, the rooftops, and electric powers guiding my steps.

I stopped for a quick breath and to take in some energy from a nearby air conditioning unit, when I heard a group of voices that sounded like a mob coming from the Capitol entrance. Curiously, I stepped over to the edge of the roof and watched the scene unfold.

A crowd of about thirty people were yelling at -or for- some guy standing on a stage. He held up his hands and started yelling out to make himself heard. "My fellow Humans!" he called out. "The world is a dark place right now! Conduits -monsters that look human, sound human, may even have been human at one point in their life- plague our lands! Their only goal: to end all life of those who do not share in their brotherhood of evil!"

The guy was nuts, obviously. Probably from one of the cities the Beast had rampaged through on its way to New Marais. I couldn't help but feel sorry for him, but I also felt some apprehension as well. This guy had no idea what the hell he was talking about, and here he was preaching to the choir like Pope John Paul.

"Look at the destruction they've caused! We've lost Empire City! New Marais! And god knows how many more in between! This is a war, and we are losing! We need people standing on the front lines, ready to die for humanity's survival!" The crowd nodded and cheered, fear and desperation driving them to accept this maniac's words as fact. "We need real humans, with real convictions! This is not about vengeance! This is about survival!" He pulled something about of his pocket and my eyes widened. A blast shard? Where did he get that? "We must take the source of their power! Leave them weak! Then, when they can no longer sustain themselves, we will strike!" The crowd grew even louder, voicing their support. "I swear to you all, we will stop the Conduit menace!"

At this cue, two armed people drug someone by their arms to the stage. My eyes narrowed as I tried to see what exactly was going on. It was a woman, fairly young, and completely terrified. Was she a Conduit? I did a quick scan, but she was too far away. An ability I was given by John allowed me to sense the plague, to see it in people. If she was a Conduit, it definitely wouldn't show. Then again, just because it didn't show, didn't mean she was a Conduit. It was a fine line. Either way, I couldn't just sit here.

I dropped off the building and landed on the ground with a thud. A few people turned to see me, startled. I slipped past them, ignoring their awed faces, and made my way to the front while trying to remain inconspicuous. I did another scan near the front, and this time it worked. I saw the plague in many people, in an early stage. They still had time, but they would soon start to show symptoms. The woman they had also had an early stage of the plague, which meant she wasn't a full-fledged Conduit, if she was one at all. Her captors didn't seem to care one way or another, as their leader held the blast shard like a dagger, preparing to stab the poor woman. "Thy will be done!" he shouted.

Snarling at the barbarism on display, I leapt from the crowd and landed on the stage, throwing a punch blast at the leader and sending him over the rail. His pals tried to flank me, and were rewarded with an electric punch and kick to each of them. A few others opened fire at the stage, and I ducked behind the podium to avoid their shots and returned fire with my lightning bolts. These punks were a cakewalk compared to some of the shit I'd been through.

A sniper on an adjacent roof opened fire on my position, so I tossed a lightning tether to the roof and zipped up there, right in front of the guy. He reacted pretty quick, I had to hand it to him. He swung at me with the rifle, which I caught with ease. Of course, any gun I ever got my hands on exploded, so I kicked the guy backwards and he stumbled before the rifle exploded, sending him off the building. I looked over the edge, and saw him writhing on the ground. He'd live.

I looked for the ringleader for a moment, but he disappeared. He did leave behind the blast shard, though. I picked it up and ran a touch of electricity through it, shattering it and absorbing its energy. There were probably more of these around D.C. I'd have to look for them... if I had the time.

A call came in, and I answered using my earpiece. "MacGrath, we're picking up a weird signal coming from a rooftop near your position," Heller explained.

"Ah, spying on me, are you?" I asked.

"Just go find out what the hell it is."

And as abruptly as the call came in, it disconnected. "Okay, then," I muttered. I tethered up a building and jogged to the location Heller pinged for me. On the way, I thought of the people I'd just fought. Pro-human, anti-Conduit, just like Bertrand and his Militia. Part of me wondered if their leader was a Conduit, like Bertrand had been. Nah. What were the odds of that happening twice?

I found the location and looked around for this "signal", but saw nothing. I called the number Heller had pushed onto my phone, and a moment later he picked up. "Hey, Heller, I'm at the location. Nothing here that could be throwing off a signal, though."

"Take a look around, anyway. You're right on top of the mark."

I frowned, but looked around the roof I was on, anyway. I even did a quick scan, but only saw some energy sources. I scratched my head. I had to be missing something. A cloud passed overhead and I looked up. A pigeon flew overhead, and I remembered getting dead drops in New Marais from them. I focused some energy to my hand and threw a blast to stun it. It fell to the roof, and I searched it for a flash drive. Nothing. "Oops," I muttered.

I placed my hands on my hips. I was definitely onto something, but where the hell would this thing be? I did a few more scans, looking around as I went. There was air conditioning units, an electrical panel by the door to the roof, the water tower... My mind lurched. Electricity in a water tower? I climbed the ladder to the tower and opened the lid. Floating in the water was a parcel. I phoned Heller. "I think I found that signal," I said. "It's a package."

I tethered the parcel and pulled it to me and dropped from the ladder. I opened it up, only to find a brick of styrofoam. Frowning, I looked over the package and noticed a blinking light. I ran my finger over it and noticed a groove at the edge. I looked over it and saw a flash drive. Bingo.

I pulled it out and slid it into my phone. A moment later, a new voice spoke up. "Special Agent Moya Jones, Memo 3208." Moya? She left dead drops? For who? The recording continued. "My investigation into the war criminal known as "Kessler" has yielded some interesting results. The NSA is also onto him, connecting him to a group known as the First Sons.

"They have two agents on the case. The first is Lucy Kuo in New Marais, working with Dr. Sebastian Wolfe, a mid-ranking member of the First Sons. According to his dossier, he's a leading expert on a new field called the Ray Field. The NSA is obviously offering him some sort of immunity deal in exchange for his cooperation. He is of little interest to the investigation.

"The other agent is John White. He's been assigned directly to Kessler on a project known as the Ray Sphere. This is a much more interesting point, as it may lead to Kessler's arrest. I'm going to look into what exactly this "Ray Sphere" is. These dead drops will be left where DARPA agents could find them, should anything happen to me."

The recording ended with a click, and Heller's voice replaced Moya's. "Holy shit," he muttered.

"What's up?"

"Moya left those just after the Blast in Empire City. She was supposed to deliver the full report after Kessler was captured. Only, that never happened." I could tell the last sentence was pointed at me. "After she was killed, we tried to find the dead drops, but couldn't. Guess the signals just now activated."

"If I find any more, I'll get 'em."

I disconnected the call and put the flash drive in my pack, then I ran along the roofs some more. Eventually, I saw someone waving, so I decided to investigate. Sure enough, they were flagging me down. I used my static thrusters to land softly in front of the woman, and immediately recognized her from the DARPA warehouse. "Hey," I said. "Shower Lady."

Her cheeks flushed slightly at my teasing. "My name is Nora," she replied, as though fighting to redeem some sort of dignity. "Nora Mendoza."

I nodded taking the hint. For the first time, I got a good look at her. She was pretty, for the government types. Latina-American, short dark hair, brown eyes. Not a bad catch for whoever got her. "Nice to officially meet you, Agent Mendoza," I replied. She nodded at the gesture, but I doubted I was forgiven just yet. "What'd ya need?"

"Well, it's not exactly what _I_ need, but more it what _they_ need." She pointed to a guy standing on a corner looking really nervous. Another guy was nearby, with a more sinister air around him. "It's already no secret the Electric Man is here," Mendoza explained. "People are going to want help wherever you go."

"Nothing new there," I replied good-naturedly.

She wasn't amused. "Just be careful who you help out," she warned. "Help out some bad people, good people may turn their back on you."

"And vice versa, I get it."

"Good. And good luck."

With that, she walked away, leaving me frowning. I'd certainly had better introductions. Shrugging off my less than stellar meeting, I jogged forward, weighing my options against Creepy Prowler or Scared Shitless. In the end, Shitless won over and I jogged over to him. "What's up?" I asked.

"There are some guys with my wife," he cried out. "They think she's a Conduit! They're gonna kill her!"

"I'll take care of it. Stay here."

I ran up the street where he pointed and found the pro-humans matching a woman at gunpoint. "Bingo," I muttered, drawing the Amp from it's sling. I ran forward slid under the first guy, tripping him before turning around and swinging the Amp like a bat, sending him flying across the street. The others looked at me with a startled expression while the woman ran for cover. The three others came at me at once, and I let out a quick blast, knocking all three of them back at once. Once they were on the ground, I ran up to two of them and restrained them, but the the dot up before I could reach him. I held up my arm, ready to fire if he tried anything, but he just turned tail and ran, stuttering something about "Jeremiah has to hear about this". I let him go, as the woman was now safe.

She ran up to me and hugged me. "Thank you so much!" she sobbed.

Her husband came up and hugged her. "Thank you, sir!" he said.

I nodded to them both and jogged out to the street, but Creepy Prowler was no longer there. Guess I made an impression.

My phone beeped, and Mendoza's voice came through. "Nice work, MacGrath. More people may need help around the city, so keep an eye out."

The call cancelled, and I frowned. These secret agents were starting to confuse me. Did they want me to save the world by killing myself, or did they want me doing a dozen odd jobs?

While I was pondering my newest predicament, a call came in. "MacGrath!" Heller said urgently. "We've got a problem!"

"Let me guess: your funding got cut?"

"Stop dicking around! Your friend Kuo? She ran off. We think she's headed for New Marais."

"Son of a bitch," I muttered.

"Get back to base. Chopper's ready to go."

The call disconnected and I hung my head.

"Kuo, what the hell are you thinking?"


	6. chAPTER 5

chAPTER 5

I arrived at the warehouse to find Heller already on the roof, waving me down. I landed on the roof and followed him to the chopper. "How much of a head start does she have?" I asked.

"About an hour," Heller replied. "She'll get there before we do, that's for sure."

"You know she's planning on destroying the notes, right?"

Heller turned to me. "All the more reason to hurry. We don't know the extent of the damage to New Marais, so let's hope we get lucky and the boxcar's a bitch for her to find."

I nodded and followed Heller into the chopper, still a bit uneasy about actually sitting in a vehicle. Over the next couple of hours, we flew in silence, neither one of us really knowing what to say. Finally, I decided to break the silence. "So, uh... How do you know so much about me, anyway?"

"Moya didn't use dead drops all the time," Heller replied. "Especially concerning you."

"What'd she find so special about me?" I asked.

"Something about the Ray Sphere. After the blast, she became obsessed with it. With you. She wanted desperately to get her hands on the Sphere, to hold that kind of power. After you killed Kessler and destroyed the Ray Sphere, she went AWOL. Got a few forces of her own and went after you."

I looked away. "I didn't realize it was that bad," I replied.

"It was worse," Heller said solemnly. "Moya and I... we were close."

"I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "Let's just get back to the task at hand," he replied.

I silently agreed and looked out the window of the chopper, trying to prepare for what was ahead. New Marais, destroyed by this new, stronger Beast. All the damage we were passing over wouldn't be able to prepare me for it, so I didn't bother thinking about that. Instead I though of Empire City. Of how I felt when I saw it in ruins by John's hand. Even that was small comfort when New Marais finally came into view.

Much of it was flattened. Ascension Parish was almost unrecognizable, and Flood Town was worse than it had been after the flood five years ago.

Heller saw the destruction as well. "My god," he breathed. I could only agree. "I'll have to drop you off at the edge of Flood Town. Chopper's rotors can't handle the debris.

I moved to the back of the cabin and waited for Heller's signal. When it came, I jumped and used my static thrusters to glide to what was left of a roof. Getting my bearings was tough with all the destruction, but eventually I started making my way to the railroad tracks at the edge of Flood Town. About halfway across the swamp, gunshots caught my attention. Bullets ricocheted at my feet as Heller spoke over the phone. "Heads up! Hostiles moving in from the west!"

"Thanks for the advance warning," I mumbled sarcastically, turning to face these "hostiles" before stopping dead in my tracks.

Jumping from roof to roof, with the aid of their ice powers, was Vermaak 88. During my stay in New Marais, these guys proved to be a particular pain in the ass. Getting their powers through one of Bertrand's sick little experiments, they then proceeded to raid Flood Town, turning the recovering district into a war zone, against the Militia, against me, against anyone who got in their way. They were all Conduits, which explains how they survived the Beast. A better question was what the hell they were still doing here.

Before I could think any further, one of the speedy ones with shotguns ran up to me, aiming its barrel right in my face. I ducked just in time to avoid the shot and threw an uppercut to the Conduit's jaw. More members of 88 started jumping around, trying to flank me. I shot a few bolts at them, but quickly gave up on that idea and ran forward, straight for the guy in front of me.

As I neared him, I drew the Amp and, using the guy's chest as a springboard, launched myself into the air. Spinning around for increased momentum, I brought the Amp down on the soldier's skull and knocked him into the water. I then holstered the Amp and turned around, letting loose a few more bolts to keep the 88 at bay while I ran for some cover. I knew I had to be careful, though. After the Beast ravaged the town, the power had gone out. Just being in New Marais was messing with my head.

I ducked behind a ruined roof and waited for an opportunity. As the soldiers reloaded, I stood and fired a few more bolts in their direction, which they easily avoided. As I crouched back down, I heard a clicking noise next to me. I turned and saw a shotgun right in my face. "Son of a-."

It went off, peppering me with bird shot and sending me into the water. As a Conduit, I'd survive with a couple scratches. But man, did it hurt like hell. The water concerned me more. Every second of being in there was like being stabbed a thousand times over. To make matters worse, the shotgunner continued to fire at me, hoping to finish me off. Angry, I threw a blast at him and as he stumbled back, I focused my energy and ice launched into the air, kicking the shotgunner into the water below and zapping it -and him- to finish the fight. The others had already gone, much to my relief. But my job wasn't over yet.

I ran to where the boxcar was, still untouched by the destruction, and opened it, only to find it empty. To my right, I could see someone standing there, their posture suggesting they were ready for a fight. I turned and faced Kuo, who looked more resolved than when I had seen her that morning. "Turn around, Cole, and walk away!" she shouted.

I shook my head. "That's not going to happen," I replied.

"Dammit, Cole! Don't you understand that this is the only way?!"

I took a step forward. "I need those notes, Kuo," I said calmly.

She shook her head, and it was then I saw the crumpled pieces of paper in her hand. In another moment, they were frozen and crushed, the pieces falling on the tracks.

I reacted immediately, throwing a rocket toward her, which she used her ice to slow down before flying upward and out of the way. She landed on the ground with a thud, and began firing the bolts at me. I returned in kind, managing to knick her a couple times. She flew toward me faster than I expected, and I ice launched into the air to avoid her, making her run square into the pillar I'd just left. As she crashed into the ground, I turned around and glared at her. "Dammit, Kuo!" I yelled. "Stop this and let us talk this out!"

"For what?!" she yelled. "For you to get that thing operational again and kill us all?! Go to hell!"

She looked as though she was concentrating, and suddenly she was standing on a rising glacier, towering over me and raining down ice attacks. I dodged what I could, but I was running low on options fast. Thinking quickly, I ice launched and landed on the glacier with her and grabbed her arm as she swung at me. Then she grabbed mine.

We struggled for a moment, but I was able to overpower her and deliver a shock to her head, stunning her. In reaction, she blasted me off the glacier and flew straight into me, carrying me over the ocean.

Struggling to regain some control over myself after literally being knocked off my feet, I concentrated and let loose an ionic freeze that turned the ocean solid for half a mile. Satisfied we'd be safe from the water, I grabbed Kuo's shoulders and yanked downward.

We landed hard, sliding and rolling across the sheet of ice. I stood slowly, seriously wishing there was a working fuse box near me. Kuo was also rising to her feet, and I knew I had to end this soon. I ran over to her and tackled her, hoping to pin her to the ground. Instead, she blasted my face with ice and roundhouse kicked me across the sheet. I slammed the Amp into the ice to stop me, and stood to face Kuo again. She was once again flying at me, but I swung the Amp at the exact right time to send her flying backwards.

As she stood, she let out a angry shout. "I am NOT going to die, Cole! I have to do this!"

I sighed. So much for talking her down. "Then I don't have much of a choice," I replied. I then focused more energy into my arms and turned in a 360, sending an ionic vortex in her direction. The half-mile of ice was sucked into the vortex, and when it vanished, Kuo had too. I knew she wasn't dead. She was out there somewhere, probably about to plan revenge. This was definitely not over.

I placed a call to Heller. "The notes are gone, Heller," I said exasperatedly. "She destroyed them."

"Son of a-," Heller muttered. "Alright, we'll figure something out. Get back to the LZ and let's get-." He stopped suddenly, as though becoming aware of something. A moment later, he spoke up again. "MacGrath, I'm reading a strange energy signature coming from the St. Ignatius cathedral."

My nerves flared at the news. More Conduits? "All the more reason to get the hell out of Dodge," I replied.

"Maybe," Heller replied. "I'm gonna swing by there and check it out."

I rolled my eyes. Damn government boys and their curiosity. I tethered to a roof and carefully made my way back through Flood Town and to the bulk of New Marais. Sticking to the high ground as much as possible, I eventually was able to catch up to the chopper. "See anything?" I asked.

"Nothing," he replied, confused. "See what you can find."

I rolled my eyes again and looked around, not sure if I was hoping I'd find something or hoping I didn't. I did a scan and saw the echo of a figure standing nearby. On the ground where it was standing was a pile of ashes. I bent down and touched them, and suddenly it was like I wasn't in New Marais, or anywhere, anymore. I looked up and almost fell to the ground in shock.

It was the other me.

"Good," he said. "You found it."

"I thought you were dead," I replied, dumbfounded.

"I am. This is just an echo of who I was. A precaution, in case the Beast killed me before we could stop him."

I frowned. "How the hell did you have time to set this up?" I asked.

"It's amazing how much time you have when you're dead," he replied sardonically. Then he grew serious. "What I'm about to tell you is extremely important. You need to listen, and make sure you understand. You can't repeat my mistakes.

* * *

"I used the RFI. I sacrificed myself and all others like me to make sure the Beast didn't win. That humanity could survive. I fought the Beast. I fought Kuo. Laroche, the rebels, Nix... they were all killed defending me. They bought me the time I needed to stop the Beast. To use the RFI. So I did.

"I knew what would happen if I used it, just like you do. I knew it would target the Conduit gene... and it's host. I basically damned an entire race so another could live. And then... I woke up.

"A fisherman said he found me in the water, so close to death he called the coroner on the way to shore. I couldn't believe I had survived. I though the RFI hadn't gone off. The truth was far worse.

"The Beast still rampaged across the United States, activating Conduits and killing innocents. I went back to New Marais, hoping to find the RFI and try again. But when I found it, it had been smashed into pieces, right here. Someone had destroyed the RFI, somehow, while I was firing it off. Kuo. It had to be. I made a promise to hunt her down and make her pay. But I had other problems. The Beast was still out there. And he had to be stopped."

* * *

The other me finished his story, leaving me with a lot to think about. Kuo had stopped him from using the RFI? Would she have done the same to me?

Suddenly, the echo's hand was on my head, and I saw a vision. It was me, holding the Amp, calling down a lightning storm. Or at least, I thought it was. My movement was much quicker, and I only used one hand. The effect was much quicker, too. A single bolt flashed downward and connected with one of the pro-humans in D.C.

When the echo removed its hand, it nodded at me. "That power will help in the fights to come," it said. "Remember it, and do what I couldn't."

With that, it was gone. Heller's voice rang in my ear. "MacGrath! Come on, dammit!"

"I hear you."

"Good. Because there's a group of ice Conduits headed your way, and they don't look too happy to see you."

I saw the Conduits and turned to face them as Heller brought the helicopter near. Focusing my energy, I let off a lightning strike, blasting a small group of the 88 and dispersing the rest. Yeah. This would do.

On the way back to D.C., I ran the echo's words through my mind. The Beast would have survived. The RFI wouldn't have worked. Kuo would have betrayed me. It was a very similar situation to the one I was in now.

I just hoped that this one would have a better end.


	7. chAPTER 6

chAPTER 6

The DARPA warehouse was more solemn than it was when I'd previously been in there. Heller had radioed ahead and told the group the news: there would be no RFI, no cure. Even Nix looked a little bummed out by it.

Heller kept his hands on a table, hanging his head as though accepting defeat. I stepped over to him. "So... what's the plan?" I asked.

"There is no plan," Heller replied. "The RFI was our best shot. It was the only plan we had, the only way to stop the Beast." He closed his eyes. "And now we're all going to die."

I sighed and looked away. "Look, I know things could've gone a hell of a lot better in New Marais. But if there's one thing I've learned, it's that there's always gotta be a plan b. If we're gonna stop the Beast, we're gonna need that plan b."

Heller shook his head. "You saw New Marais. You saw what that bastard did. How are we supposed to fight something like that?"

I looked away. "I don't know," I admitted. "I don't know."

Zeke walked over to the two of us. "What's going on?" he asked.

"We're trying to think of a plan b. The RFI can't be fixed."

He turned away. "Damn!" he muttered.

I sighed. "Sorry, Zeke."

"What now? That guys probably out there building an army to bring this way."

The realization hit me as soon as he said it. An army. "Then that's what we have to do," I said after a moment.

Heller looked over at me in surprise. "What?" he asked.

"Build an army. Get Conduits, humans, anyone willing to help out to stand against the Beast."

Heller shook his head. "MacGrath, I hate to break it to you, but D.C. isn't all government agencies and military bases. There are civilians here, too, a lot of them. Some of which have never held a gun in their life. And you want them to go against the Beast?"

"No, of course not," I replied. I wasn't a monster. "But there is a group out there with no love for Conduits. Maybe I can convince them to help."

Zeke spoke up. "Uh, Cole? You're kind of a Conduit, too. How do you know they'll listen to you?"

"I don't. But it's the best option we have right now."

Heller thought for a moment and nodded. "There are probably other Conduits scattered D.C. I'll have our teams start looking for them. When we find anything, we'll let you know."

I nodded to him gratefully. This could work. If we all threw everything we had at the Beast together, well... a small chance was better than none at all. "Guess I better get started."

Zeke nodded and left, coughing as he went. I was really starting to wish I shocked Kuo in the face the moment I saw her. Now the RFI was nothing more than a complicated piece of junk.

I stepped over to Heller. "Any leads on Conduits yet?" I asked.

"Nothing yet," Heller replied. "I'll let you know when I find anything."

I nodded and walked away, finding Nix on a catwalk above. Tethering up there, I sat next to her. "Nice view," I commented.

"If you like that sort of thing," Nix quipped. A moment passed where we just sat there, watching the bustle of the DARPA warehouse. "So," she finally spoke up. "Snow White finally turned tail and flipped on us, huh?"

"Yeah," I replied, not really wanting to talk about it.

"I told you that bitch was crazy, man."

I smiled slightly at the irony. "You sure did."

"So... what now?"

I sighed and stood up. "Now, we stop her. And the Beast."

She nodded. "Well, when you need some asses whipped, call me."

"Will do."

I dropped from the catwalk, startling a few people, and walked over to the medical wing. Zeke was sitting on the side of the bed, coughing. "Hey, man," I said.

"Hey," he replied before breaking out in a fit of coughs. "Damn. You'd think I was sick or something."

I smiled slightly, but it quickly faded. "I'm sorry, Zeke," I said. "Really. I am."

He shook his head. "It's not your fault, Brother. Kuo chose her side."

"Yeah," I replied. "She did."

"How long do ya think we've got?" he asked. I knew what he meant. How long before the Beast got here.

"If we're lucky? A few months. The U.S. is a pretty big place."

"Should be plenty of time to mount up a defense, right?"

I nodded. "That's the hope."

"You don't seem all that convinced."

"I just don't like the idea of taking this thing on. You didn't see what it did to New Marais. The rest of what we saw was child's play compared to this."

"So it's definitely not your buddy?"

"No," I replied. The other me had said as much before he died. "This one's much worse."

He nodded. "Well, you'll figure out a way to beat it," he said confidently. "You always do."

"Thanks, man," I replied before leaving. I walked toward the front door when I spotted Agent Mendoza in the lounge. Changing course, I walked over to her instead. "Hey," I said.

She looked over at me and flashed a smile. "Hey, MacGrath, good to see you. I was hoping to catch you before you left."

"What's up?" I asked curiously.

"Just figured I'd let you know that two more civilians just joined the Electric Man Fan Club. That couple that you saved? They're singing your praises all through town."

"Nice to know," I replied. Though I never really asked for anyone to "sing my praises", it always felt good to be treated like a hero. Then I remembered who'd been marching the woman. My gut told me it was the same group who almost sharded that woman in front of the capital building. "Got any intel on the guys doing this?" I asked.

"From what I gather, they're a group of disgruntled civilians taking Justice into their own hands," she replied. "Most of them lost people when the Beast came through their area. They have a reason to be angry, misguided as they may be."

"Well, be that as it may, they're rounding up innocent people. Someone almost got stabbed with a blast shard." She looked at me quizzically. "Uh, radiated debris," I simplified. She nodded her acceptance of the explanation. "They don't seem like the type to have a good side to get on."

"Well, that's where you come in, MacGrath. You're the one wanting them on a good side. I guess you'll have to think of something."

I nodded. "I guess I better go introduce myself," I said, turning to walk away.

"Hey, Cole?" I turned around, surprised to hear my first name. "Be careful out there. These guys... they've got nothing left to lose."

I paused for a moment before replying. "Guess we've got something in common, then," I replied.

She didn't have anything to say to that. No doubt she'd been briefed on me, on the things I'd gone through, the things I'd done. With the conversation effectively finished, I headed for the door, out to Washington D.C. Time to go make some friends.

_Author's Note: If that was too short for you, I apologize, but it made little sense to do both a warehouse sequence followed by an actual mission. The warehouse sequences will be common, but not overdone, at least that's the hope._

_Also, for those who don't already know, I've uploaded a separate story of sorts, with the dead drops inside. I guess it made more sense to me to do it that way. I'm going to update it alongside inFAMOUS 3, though the dead drops will be completed sooner. Hope you all enjoy!_

_Lastly, please don't forget to review. I welcome all feedback, and I'd rather have it to know what I'm doing right and what I can improve on. Thanks to everyone who's taking the time to read._


	8. chAPTER 7

chAPTER 7

After wandering aimlessly around town for an hour without any results, I began to lose hope on even finding the anti-Conduits, much less convincing them to work with me. I checked in with Mendoza every once in a while, but she had little intel for me, and nothing that could lead me to where these guys set up shop.

Finally, I hit a stroke of luck when I found a group of them marching a civilian along the road. Drawing the Amp, I jumped down to where they were stood straight in their path. "Going somewhere?" I asked, trying a less confrontational route.

They responded by training their weapons on me. "You," the leader of the pack spat out. "You're the Conduit. The one from Empire City."

"Yeah," I replied. "That's me."

A few moments passed, both me and the hostage-takers staring each other down, waiting for the other to make the first move. I retracted the Amp and placed it back in its sling, hoping to dissuade them from attacking and possibly killing their captive. The move caught them by surprise, and they lowered their weapons ever so slightly... just long enough to be enveloped by red and black smoke, just before being laid out by Nix.

After all of the captors were down, I frowned at Nix. "So much for talking them down," I said pointedly.

"What's the fun in that?" she replied.

Rolling my eyes but smiling slightly, I stepped over to one of the guys and grabbed his collar. "Where's your boss?" I demanded.

"Go to hell, Conduit freak!" he yelled, spitting into my face. Annoyed, I stepped on his chest, not bothering to be gentle, and restrained his hands and feet to the ground.

"Plan B?" Nix asked.

I shook my head. "These guys are our best bet at finding the head of the leader. If we find him, we can convince him to work with us."

Nix shook her head. "You always did try to be the peaceful hero-man."

I chuckled slightly. "You got a better idea?" I asked.

"Yeah. We find this sucker, kick his ass, then let him decide if he wants to work for us, or feel a foot in his stomach."

I grimaced at the image, but she had a point. The leader of this ragtag group was no friend of Conduits, that was for damn sure. What was to say he listened to us in the first place, much less helped us? I decided not to decide just yet. Instead, I focused on finding another group of the pro-humans.

A few blocks later, we found them. "Alright," I said quietly. "Now let's try to get some information _before _we-." I didn't get the chance to finish, as Nix was already in the thick of the group knocking heads together. I sighed. "Good to be back in the swing of things," I commented before jumping off the roof and joining the brawl.

Upon seeing me, some of the anti-Conduits' first move was to train their fire on me, which I rolled out of the way of before brandishing the Amp and let out a blast to the group, which Nix had just engulfed in her fiery tar. Most of the group was writhing on the ground. One guy was able to stand, though he had a bad limp. I grabbed his shirt and held a charged arm near his face. "Who's running this little side-show, huh?" I asked.

"Damn it!" he muttered, frustrated at being captured. "Just kill me and get it over with!"

I smiled humorlessly and dropped him, letting him fall on his ass. "I ain't gonna kill ya," I replied. "In fact, I won't even hurt you any more than I have. But I can't promise anything with my friend over there." I pointed to Nix. "She doesn't really like to listen, and she _really_ doesn't like when people target others just because they're different." I saw him gulp and decided if scared him enough. "Tell me where to find whoever you work for, and we'll be gone before you know it."

The anti-Conduit thug sighed, fear still gripping him. "The docks," he said finally. "At the west end of the city."

I nodded and, keeping my promise, walked away. To my surprise, Nix caught up with me without attacking the downed grunt. "Figured you'd at least scare him a little more," I said.

Nix shrugged. "Dude's already pissin' his pants," she replied. "He ain't gettin' any lower."

I nodded and tethered up to another roof, Nix teleporting to keep up. We moved quietly, hoping to keep away from the other anti-Conduits, until we reached the west docks. The place was swarming with them. "Wait here, Nix," I said. Before she could protest, I continued. "I'm gonna try talking them down first. If that doesn't work, bring the heat." Nix thought for a moment before nodding. Taking a breath, I dropped down and walked through the front gate.

Instantly, three dozen guns were trained on me. Before anyone could pull the trigger, a voice yelled out, "Wait!"

The guns lowered slightly, startled at the sudden speaking out against killing a Conduit. A moment later, an old man with a crutch and a wrapped up foot hobbled into view. Poor bastard. Must've broke his ankle when I blasted him over the railing of his little stage. He continued to walk to me, slowly, eyeing me suspiciously. "Cole. MacGrath," he said quietly. "The Demon of Empire City."

"The so-called Demon," I corrected. "You've got me at a disadvantage."

"And I'd like to keep it that way. However, you deserve at least a little knowledge." He touched his forehead like an imaginary hat. "Name's Jeremiah. Jeremiah Slade."

"Well, Slade. Looks like the cards are a bit more even now."

My comment was returned with a crude smile. After a moment, the leader spoke again. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't have my men shoot you right here and now."

"Because you want them all in one piece," I replied flatly.

His grin grew. "You underestimate us, Mr. MacGrath. We are more capable than you think. And we are more than willing to die for our cause."

"Killing innocent people?" I spat out.

"Innocent?!" Slade spat back angrily. "Innocent?! There is nothing innocent about you bastards! Nothing!" He began pacing, which could have been funny if he hadn't seemed so threatening. Mendoza was right. These guys had literally nothing to lose. To be honest, their... devotion to stopping Conduits unnerved me. They weren't afraid of me. They would never be afraid of me. But they never caught me at most powerful, either. This guy claimed they'd die for their cause? That's exactly what they'd do.

"Stabbing a woman with a blast shard's got nothing to do with Conduits," I said, trying to change tactics. "She wasn't even a Conduit, for god's sake! She had the plague, just like many of you here!"

Slade rounded on me. "And who gave them that plague, Conduit?!" I was taken aback by how much he knew. Of course, it wasn't all that hard to figure out, once you really thought about it. I'd spent so much time trying to get out of Empire City, I never stopped to think about where the plague might have come from.

"I'm not here to dwell on the past," I said harshly. "There's something out there far worse than me."

Slade seemed to know what I was talking about. "It'll die, too."

"Not without help," I replied.

Slade laughed humorlessly. "Let me guess: you want me to fall in line behind you while you perform your "heroics" and stop the monster that's terrorizing us all." He hobbled closer and lowered his voice. "It'll be a cold day in hell before I work for you, Conduit."

"I'm not asking for you to work for me," I replied. "I'm asking for your help. The Beast is only going to go down if we throw everything we have at it."

Slade looked at me for a moment, as though he was weighing his options. Finally, he smiled again, a vicious, sarcastic smile. "I'll think it over," he said before turning and walking away. I turned to leave, motioning to Nix the all-clear. "Hey, MacGrath," I heard Slade yell. I turned to see him smirking at me. "I've thought about it," he said. Then he yelled to he troops. "Humanity! Open fire!"

Instantly, three dozen assault rifles went off, and I had to run behind a crate as the bullets ricocheted all around me. Suddenly, the were screams from within the compound. I peaked my head out to see Nix teleporting from one dead grunt to an alive one. Taking a chance from this distraction, I jumped from cover and fired lightning bolts at the upper levels of enemies. Reinforcements came from where Slade had gone off to, and I knew we were heavily outnumbered. "Nix!" I yelled into my earpiece. "Double time! Let's move it!"

As Nix replied something inaudible, I fired more bolts and a few rockets into the crowd. Too bad my energy storage was running low. I could've thrown a vortex, a lightning storm...

It hit me. The new power. The lightning strike. Concentrating, I tried to remember what the echo had shown me. I'd only used it once, so I hadn't had a lot of practice with it, but after a moment, I three a strike at a group, hitting one of them directly and shocking a few more, whether because they were close enough to be in the effect radius, or they were far enough away to see their buddies get fried.

With the effect of the one lightning strike, I threw more, hoping to dissuade them from their onslaught. One by one, more of Slade's "Humanity" group fell, until there were fewer than ten in the compound. That bought us our window, and Nix and I ran from the docks, leaving "Humanity" to deal with their mess.

So much for making friends.


	9. chAPTER 8

chAPTER 8

I thought I'd seen it all in Empire City and New Marais. That nothing could really surprise me anymore. I even told myself over and over again "No, that'd never happen." Then it did.

Someone asked me to save their damn cat from a damn tree.

I had to stop myself from bursting out laughing before climbing up the tree and retrieving the feisty animal. Mundane to the last moment, the woman thanked me before Humanity, Jeremiah Slade's group of rejects, attacked the two of us. I used a frost shield to protect the woman as we ran to the safety of her house. After making sure she was safely inside, I turned and took down the attackers.

Once the Humanity goons were down, I checked on the woman to make sure that she was okay. Other than a scrape from me accidentally pushing her to the ground when the attack first hit, she was fine. She thanked me for the help and I left, still waiting on word from anyone about someone who could help against the Beast.

I've never been the most patient of people. I've always been better at going out to get something done than waiting for it to happen. To have to actually wait for info on the Beast, to not be able to just go to it and finish this thing, was almost more than I could handle. New Marais was a cakewalk compared to this.

My phone suddenly beeped, and Heller's voice filled my ear. "MacGrath! Conduit activity, over by Welling Square!"

I frowned. That wasn't a lot of information. "Anyone we would know about?"

"Hell if I know. Just heard that shit's flying around over there, and that a Conduit is responsible for it. I'm sending the location to your GPS."

"I'll check it out."

We ended the conversation and I ran toward the blip that had just been put on my GPS, lamenting the familiarity of the situation. In a way, Heller reminded me a lot of Moya, especially his attitude with me. Though he seemed to trust me a touch more than when we first met, it was most likely due to the fact that I was his species only hope of survival. He didn't like me, and he damn sure didn't want to be friends. Believe me, the feeling was mutual.

My thoughts were interrupted by a couple of flying humans, who hit the ground a little too hard for their liking. Frowning, I took a couple of steps toward them, trying to see what the hell was going on. Upon closer inspection, I saw that they were both armed. Gang members? Military? I had no way of knowing for sure.

An explosion distracted me, and I frowned as I turned toward the source. More humans, fighting with what appeared to be debris. They were shooting at them, which would have been comical if they hadn't looked so damn afraid. Looking at the source of the chaos, I found their fear was well-justified.

It was Alden Tate.

I stopped moving as soon as I saw him. While I'd figured he was still alive and somewhat well, I still wasn't expecting to see him here and now. And from the look on his face, he wasn't expecting to see me either.

He looked as though he lost a couple years in his complexion, as well as his stance. Instead of bent over like a man hobbling on a cane, he stood straighter, and looked more intimidating. He also changed his apparel from a homeless man to just an old one. He wore baggy jeans and a black sweat shirt, and for one reason or another he had no shoes. And, not surprisingly, he looked pissed to see me. "You," he spat.

Recovering from my surprise, I shook my head. "What are to doing here, Alden?" I demanded.

"Exacting justice."

I shook my head. "Turn it down a notch, you're gonna kill somebody."

Snarling, he lifted a nearby car using his telekinesis and threw it straight for me, and I released a blast to send it back. It didn't get far, landing harmlessly in front of the bridge over a creek. "You never were a strong as I am!" Alden yelled.

Not wasting any time, I ran forward, firing a few lightning bolts in his direction to keep him occupied. Even angrier than before, he held his hand out to his side, seeming to aim at a pile of trash bags and cans. They lifted into the air, and seemed to morph from a pile of junk to a dog-like crab creature.

I groaned at the sight of them. I hated these things.

The junk monsters ran for me, skittering across the pavement too quick for me to pick them off with my bolts. Instead, I threw another blast, catching most of them to fly backwards and explode. There were still a few, though, and they all jumped at me at once. I slid underneath them and drew the Amp, ready to bat them down. But there was one behind me I wasn't looking out for. It jumped on my back and began digging its claws into me. Grabbing onto it, I hurled it in the direction of the others before losing my footing and falling toward the little ravine. Using my static thrusters, I boosted myself up to the power lines over it, grabbing on and hoisting myself up. Another junk monster was already there, making its way toward me. Lifting up my arm, I zapped the pile of junk down an out before sliding across the line to get a line of sight with Alden.

As Alden came into view, so did another car he threw at me. Instinctively, I threw another blast, knocking it away. Then, thinking quickly, I jumped after it and landed on it while it was still in the air. Thinking quickly, I focused energy into my hands and spread them out, creating a kinetic field that kept the car in the air. Alden looked concerned for the first time since our little fight started. Smirking slightly, I leapt off the car and blasted it, the extra energy from the kinetic pulse sending the car flying back towards him. He held his hands in front of him, his telekinesis shielding him from the attack. I landed on the ground a few yards from him, and surprisingly, he smiled at me. "Impressive," he said simply.

I shrugged. "I aim to please," I replied nonchalantly. His fist clenched tightly, dust and debris beginning to fly up around him. I clenched my own, electricity sparking around both of them.

We glared at each other for a few moments, each waiting for the other to make the first move. Every instinct I had told me to attack first, to bring him down before he got the chance to do the same to me. But something held me back. Some nagging feeling that there was a better way to handle this. If Alden had the same feeling, he barely showed it. He looked more ready to kill me than when he lost the Ray Sphere in Empire City.

Shots suddenly rang out, barely missing either of us, signaling the start of an ambush from Humanity. Turning from Alden, I fired bolts toward the grunts, hoping to at least keep them suppressed until I could deal with the more manic Conduit. I risked a glance to Alden and was surprised to see him also preoccupying himself with Slade's goons. We may not have liked each other, but we did share a common enemy, at least for now. He'd hold. I now turned my full attention to the ambushers, reaching for the Amp only to remember that I dropped it in the creek when Alden's junk piles tackled me off the bridge. _Guess it's the hard way_, I thought.

Two of the grunts came at me at once, shotguns at the ready. I shocked one with a bolt and ducked under the other as he fired, the bird shot flying harmlessly over my head. I grabbed the gun's barrel and laid some electricity into it, igniting the gunpowder and causing the rear end to explode and embed itself into the carrier's skin. By now, the other shotgunner was recovering. I threw a blast to get him off his feet, then I brought my arm in a downward arc, summoning a lightning strike that hit the guy dead in the chest.

We weren't yet in the clear, though. More of Humanity's soldiers came for us, firing weapons, throwing grenades, one even had an RPG. I blasted the rocket back to the sender, blowing him and a couple of his friends backwards. Realizing I was running low on energy, I did a scan of the environment, hoping to find a source of electricity to draw from. Luckily, there was a car that Alden hadn't thrown around, and I drew as much energy from it as I could. It wasn't as good as a fuse box, but it would do.

More screaming caught my attention, and I saw Alden throwing four grunts into a nearby wall, the humans landing with a sickening crunch. As the last of the ambushers ran away, Alden started to follow. I placed an arm on his shoulder to stop him. "One fight at a time, Tate," I cautioned.

"What the hell do you care, Electric Man?" he demanded.

"Seeing as I don't have a death wish, I care quite a lot. Any move a Conduit makes will come to me, Slade will make sure of that."

Alden glared at a few of the unconscious fighters. "He send them?" he asked. I nodded. "Then he'll go down with the rest of them." He turned his gaze to me. "Just stay out of my way if you know what's good for you."

I sighed. "Look, I know you were screwed over when you were a kid. What Kessler did... I get it. I've got my own reasons for hating him." Alden seemed to understand, at least to some degree. "But there's something a lot bigger out there than you and Kessler. Than you and me. If we're gonna have a chance at surviving that thing's rampage," I took a breath, seriously questioning myself for even considering this, "we're gonna have to work together."

I held out my hand, and he looked at it for a moment. "That... thing. It's really a threat?" I nodded, glad he at least knew about the Beast. Made me wonder what else he knew... Alden continued. "Then I'll work with you." He took my hand and have it a sharp shake before pulling me closer and glaring straight into my eyes. "But this does not make us friends."

Truth be told, I could live with that.


	10. Hiatus Message

Hello, readers. I'm afraid I have some bad news. With N7 now out of hiatus, I'm currently juggling it, this, and writing chapters for The Freelancer Collaboration (by the way, you all should definitely check out their Freelancer stories, Phase One and Phase Two). Top it off with work and home life, and it's tough getting everything out there. Because of this, I'm gonna be putting inFAMOUS 3 on hiatus for a while, just until N7 is finished. Luckily, it's nearing it's climax, so you shouldn't have to wait for too long. Again, sorry. And I'll get back to D.C. And Cole MacGrath as soon as I can.


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